Clear Lake's season ends with 1-0 double-overtime loss

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Eagles scored in the final seconds of the second overtime, perhaps even later than that, to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals 1-0 in the quarterfinal-round of a emotionally and physically draining North Coast Section girls' soccer playoff game on Saturday night in Cloverdale.

Dora Soto's goal in the 100th minute propels Cloverdale (19-2) into Wednesday's semifinal-round game in Middletown at 7 p.m. against the 19-2 Mustangs. Clear Lake (15-8) closes out the season thinking of what might have been.

"I couldn't be prouder of my kids," Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said. "Everyone played as well as they could play."

The closeness of the game might have surprised the Eagles, who beat the Cardinals 5-0 and 4-0 in North Central League I play, but it didn't surprise Larrea.

"We had a game plan that we followed," Larrea said. "Our defense did a great job."

Goalie Heather Werner led the way, stopping 14 shots, including a penalty kick late in the second overtime.

"She had one spectacular save where she punched the ball off the post and out of bounds," Larrea said.

After the penalty kick stop by Werner in the final minute of the second overtime, Clear Lake was called for a penalty that led to a direct kick for the Eagles. The ball ricocheted off the frame of the goal as the final seconds ticked off the clock and Soto was there to collect the rebound and score. How much time - if any - was left on the clock when Soto scored was a point of contention, according to Larrea.

"There wasn't any time left," Larrea said. "The game should have ended when it hit the crossbar. It should have gone to a shootout, something we actually practiced for.

"We played our hearts out and played as well as we could," Larrea said. "That's a hard way to end it."

The loss became even more painful when Clear Lake's star midfielder, senior Kelcie Reynolds, sustained a serious foot injury in the final seconds.

"That field was horrible," Larrea said. "I don't know why they play games on it."